The United Kingdom’s Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said on Sunday he “welcomed” the opportunity to meet with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband to express his opposition to the government’s plan to impose “robust” sanctions targeting Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.
“While we share fervent hopes for a future of peace and security in the Middle East, I explained why I believe the U.K. government’s intended sanctions will be counter-productive and even endanger such a vision of peace,” Mirvis said in an X post.
“I told the Foreign Secretary that many within the U.K. Jewish community will view such measures with deep dismay, at a time when the vilification of Jews, Judaism and the Jewish State has already reached unprecedented levels,” the chief rabbi said.
The British government wants to impose sanction in connection with Israel’s planned development of the E1 area in Ma’aleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem.
On Aug. 18, Israel announced it would market the first 1,400 housing units of E1, a strategically significant area in Judea.
Mirvis said that the U.K.'s intended policy, which involves ending trade with Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, wouldn’t affect Israeli decision-making the way the government hopes, but instead risk doing harm. There is a “clear danger” that a boycott would “spiral into a de facto boycott of trade with Israel more broadly,” harm U.K.-Israel relations and harm the livelihoods of thousands of Palestinians.
Noting that E1 was always envisioned as remaining under Israeli sovereignty, it is “difficult to escape the painful conclusion that domestic political considerations are driving foreign policy, the impact of which is negative both for prospects for peace in the Middle East and for the U.K. Jewish community,” Mirvis concluded.
In response to the British government’s intention to impose a boycott, Israel is reportedly planning to evict British personnel from the U.S.-led International Gaza Support Center (previously known as the Civil-Military Coordination Center), the multinational hub overseeing post-war Gaza stabilization efforts.
The British embassy in Israel said this would undermine efforts to improve Gaza’s future.
